A Specific Instance of Me (object) vs. I (subject)

Question

I was just crafting an email. The sentence was similar to this:

You are hereby invited to the Pristine Medal Ceremony, an event which will result in Anthony and me becoming knighted, and receiving our Olympic gold medals which were unavailable until now because of supply chain issues.

The grammar-checker (Gmail) underlined "me becoming" and suggested I change it to "I becoming." Admittedly, I am phrasing things a bit wordily for humor and effect, but I am certain this is wrong. It's been years since I learned all the correct terms, but the clause breaks down like this:

(subject noun) will result in (object noun or noun phrase)

"Anthony and me becoming knighted" would fit the bill for a noun phrase, and since the noun phrase is the object, not the subject, we use "me" and not "I." To make a more simple example, you would always say:

You took a picture of me falling into the pool.

... and never...

You took a picture of I falling into the pool.

So, am I missing something here, or did I just confuse Gmail's grammar-checker with an odd sentence?

@HotLicks - Indeed. This is why I scratched Anthony from my simpler example. So, I suppose you're saying Gmail has been confounded? — bubbleking, May 23 '22 at 22:06
Usually wrong suggestions, like "I becoming". Turn off all grammar checkers. If they actually checked grammar, they'd be too expensive and take too much computing power. All they do is check for peeves, and not very well. — John Lawler, May 23 '22 at 22:31
What @JohnLawler said. And if you want a grammar explanation to stick to any pedants who might complain, just say "It's a well known cross-linguistic fact that co-ordination often blocks case assignment." — Araucaria - Him, May 23 '22 at 22:51
POSS-ing ( ... 'will result in Anthony's and my becoming knighted') sounds awful but shows that 'I' won't work in the ACC-ing version you want. — Edwin Ashworth, May 24 '22 at 16:00
@EdwinAshworth - That version is actually more correct, if I'm recalling my 8th grade grammar class accurately. I'm bad at guessing acronyms. What are POSS and ACC? — bubbleking, May 23 '23 at 20:03
8th grade grammarians? See 'His parents dream of him achieving a Cambridge degree': what is the function of 'him' here?. — Edwin Ashworth, May 24 '23 at 09:23
@EdwinAshworth - Interesting discussion there. I understand the function of those terms now. I'm still unclear on what they literally translate to. Possessing vs. accessing? I suppose I can look this up further on my own. Actually, ChatGPT to the rescue... possessive and accusative. Got it! — bubbleking, Jul 28 '23 at 13:17

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered May 18 '23 at 02:18

0

So, am I missing something here, or did I just confuse Gmail's grammar-checker with an odd sentence?

You are correct. These sorts of grammar checkers tend to be confused by more syntactically complex sentences.

answered May 18 '23 at 02:18

alphabet

18,217

A Specific Instance of Me (object) vs. I (subject)

1 Answers1